


Freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be

by pterawaters



Series: I'm (not) Older Than I Look [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Embarrassment Town: population Stiles, Father-Son Relationship, Father-Son talks are the worst, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-23
Updated: 2012-08-23
Packaged: 2017-11-12 17:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/493705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dad," Stiles says one night as they're both working on their homework over dinner. "Can I be emancipated?" Or, the one in which Stiles discusses kissing an older - well, someone older - with his father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be

"Dad," Stiles says one night as they're both working on their homework over dinner. "Can I be emancipated?"

The Sheriff chokes on his Stouffer's meatloaf and cries, "What?" He glares and chews a few more times before swallowing and asking, "Why the hell would you want to be emancipated?"

"Uh," Stiles replies. He's wavering back and forth between wanting to tell his dad the truth – he's got a crush on an older guy and wants to have sex with him sometime soon and not a year and eight months from now – and trying to come up with a believable lie. "It's not like I would move out or anything." 

"Stiles, the only way you could be emancipated is if," he ticks off the reasons on his fingers, "you get married, you join the army, or you move out and have some way to support yourself. You've never even had an afterschool job!"

"Oh," Stiles replies, pushing his potatoes around his plate with his fork. Yeah, he hadn't really finished his research on the topic, totally waylaid by thoughts of Derek and "trips to the shower." 

The Sheriff looks at Stiles for a few minutes, his gaze concerned rather than angry and Stiles thinks it's way worse this way. "I know you don't have time for lacrosse and your school work and a job. That's fine. And I _know_ you don't want to join the army." Stiles tilted his head in agreement. That was totally true. He thought his dad's job was pretty cool, and Stiles was actually a fairly good shot, but going into the army was a far cry from entertaining a possible future career in law enforcement. Then the Sheriff's eyes widened and he asked, "Oh, god. Is there a girl? Even if you got her pregnant, you don't have to marry her so young!" 

"Dad!" Stiles cried, both mortified and amused. "You've met me. Girls hate me!" 

The Sheriff tilts his head in agreement and takes another bite of meatloaf. While he's still chewing, he asks, "So what is this really about?" 

"It's stupid," Stiles insists. "Forget I said anything." 

"No, I'm not going to forget it, Stiles. What's on your mind?" 

While he's trying to figure out how he can possibly get out of this mess, Stiles chews on his lip. He decides to frame everything in a way that won't leave his dad with a huge paradigm shift just yet. "See, there's this girl..." 

"Knew it." The Sheriff grins his good-old-boy grin and Stiles wants to strangle him. 

"But she's older," Stiles explains. "Not like cougar old, because ew, but like mid-twenties, probably." 

The Sheriff frowned and asked, "But I thought you said girls hate you." 

"Well, this one kissed me, so..." Stiles explains and he wonders to himself if Derek actually does like Stiles, or if he was just the kind of guy who would kiss someone just to get them to go away. 

The Sheriff frowns. "It's not a teacher is it? Because I don’t want to be interviewed on Dateline, Stiles." 

Stiles rolls his eyes and assures his dad in a flat voice, "It's not a teacher."

The elder Stilinski nods for a moment, frowning, but he doesn't look homicidal, so there's a point in Stiles' column. Eventually he sighs and says, "Look, son. I know this is all new and exciting and you can't wait to put those teenage hormones to work, but I'm begging you, _please_ stay away from this woman. If she's as old as you say, and you two get caught..." He gives Stiles a look that says he shouldn't even bother trying _not_ to get caught. "If you get caught, okay, nothing happens to you, but this friend of yours? She _will_ end up on a sex offender registry. Probably for the rest of her life. You'll be limiting the jobs she'll be able to take, the places she'll be able to live, maybe even the recreational activities she'll be able to take part in, just because you couldn't keep it in your pants for another year and a half."

"Oh," Stiles replies, his heart thud-thudding with fear on Derek's behalf. "Yeah, didn't really think about that."

"Think about it," the Sheriff insists. "Think about it long and hard and then find someone age appropriate. You know, you've got a two year limit down and a three year limit up. It's a lot of kids to choose from, Stiles. Someone else _will_ notice you." He cocks a wry grin and adds, "Eventually."

Huffing in exasperation, Stiles replies, "Yeah, _thanks_ , Dad." Then he wonders if he should put any weight on the fact that the Sheriff stayed away from gendered pronouns while expounding on the list of people Stiles should be dating instead of Derek. It probably meant nothing.

But what if it did? Dude, did he have to come out to his dad now? Before things with Derek even got any good?


End file.
